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Senate Challenges State Department for Abandoning DEI Back Door Entrance Path
Despite the President and his Secretary of State working to do away with Obama and Biden-era Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI; the State Department added an “A” for accessibility under Biden, so DEIA) programs and their enforcement bureaucracy, Democrats in the Senate are pushing to revive two programs, the Charles Rangel and Thomas Pickering Fellowships. Both exist to provide an alternative pathway into the Foreign Service with benefits not available through the standard hiring process, with a focus on increasing representation of underrepresented groups. Both programs are currently suspended, unless the Democrats get their way.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.) joined by 21 other Senate Democrats, recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to hire the more than 50 Fellows now in the pipeline, claiming “taxpayers have invested millions of dollars in these diplomats,” and that diplomatic readiness has been affected. Van Hollen also wants State to “clarify the situation for future cohorts” in reviving the fellowships as the two programs are no longer accepting applicants “pending updates from the U.S. Department of State.”
What are the two programs the Democrats are stumping for, and what have they done for the State Department?
Since The Rogers Act of 1924, State has used some sort of written test (similar to the SAT with more history and less math) as a gateway into its elite foreign service corps. While the test was revised with the times to be more like the LSAT, the emphasis was on a merit-based entry mechanism to replace the way of choosing diplomats in place since Thomas Jefferson, i.e., selecting applicants who were “male, pale, and Yale” and usually wealthy and well-connected. Despite many accusations that the written test was being progressively “dumb-downed” over the years, State’s incoming classes stubbornly were mostly white men. Various solutions were tried in the intake process, to include a famously difficult all-day oral assessment, several different flavors of essays and self-assessments, and open-ended “suitability checks.” The winners stayed very white and male, even as State lost lawsuits charging discrimination brought by women and blacks.
State believed alongside most of society’s liberal institutions and universities of the time that the test and assessment process must be inherently biased against people of color and women; that’s why they failed. The answer was a significant effort to attract more diverse applicants to increase their odds. The Department created positions for 16 new senior diplomats in residence (DIR; State did have one lone DIR in the field since 1965) posted throughout the country. The program flourished in the 2000s. Since the DIRs were designed to reach populations with lower percentages in the Foreign Service than their share of the general population, many DIRs were based at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The DIRs in the southern U.S. and Washington, DC, were based at Morehouse College and Howard University, both HBCUs. Other DIRs operated out of the University of New Mexico and the University of California, Los Angeles, both of which have high Hispanic enrollment. The DIR program did not result in State’s intended representation of the most desired minorities and was shut down in 2025 under the Trump administration.
Congress also started a new, independent track into a Foreign Service job especially for underrepresented groups. In 1992, they established the Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, followed in 2002 by the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. Both these programs were designed from the ground up to focus on ethnic minorities, although a few Fellows represent other “underserved” groups, such as those from poor backgrounds or who were the first in their family to attend college. The Rangel and Pickering programs are administered by Howard University, which has fewer than two percent white students. Technically the fellowships were open to all applicants, regardless of race.
Both fellowships offer a very good deal unavailable to those who apply to the Foreign Service via the traditional test. The fellowships offer a graduate scholarship, a paid summer internship at a U.S. embassy abroad, a second summer internship either in Congress or at State Department headquarters, and significant mentoring. After all this on-the-job experience, a graduate degree, and mentoring, Fellows are required to eventually pass the standard written test and oral assessment before being offered a five-year appointment to the Foreign Service. While Fellows must technically pass the same assessments, their prior training, mentorship, and institutional visibility may create implicit pressure on evaluators. Fellows are identified as such to those administering the required oral exam. In my own experience administering the exam, failing a Fellow required justification up the chain. I do not recall a Fellow who did not pass.
But did the fellowships actually work to increase the diversity of the Foreign Service? It is almost impossible to know, because neither the fellowships nor the State Department publicly release comprehensive demographic data, making independent evaluation of the programs difficult.
Van Hollen thinks the programs have succeeded, citing in his letter to Rubio that “as of 2022, these… fellowships have increased the number of Foreign Service generalists from underrepresented groups by 33 percent and the number of women by six percent.” His citation for the statistics was an article written in 2022 in State’s own internal house magazine by Kenya James, who actually sits on the Pickering and Rangel Fellow Association board. The article provides none of the individual racial statistics necessary to understand if the fellowships seek to solve apparent discrimination by discrimination among their own applicants. The Pickering Fellows website removed its group photo of the 2024 Fellows, limiting informal public visibility into cohort composition. According to one report, pre-Trump Pickering and Rangel accounted for around 20 percent of Foreign Service recruitment, and a majority of the black officer intake. There remains no public dataset on the Fellows racial make-up.
In the absence of official data, artificial intelligence was used to examine dozens of publicly listed fellows across years of cohorts, program descriptions emphasizing underrepresented recruitment, academic research noting perceived racial composition, the composition of known pipeline effects into Foreign Service hiring, and sampling of publicly listed Fellows to create a non-scientific estimate of the racial composition of the Pickering and Rangel cohort. The results suggest a heavy skew toward underrepresented minority groups, with relatively few white participants, along the lines that the Fellows were some 80 percent black, multi-racial or Hispanic, and less than 20 percent white. The actual Foreign Service, brought in via the traditional testing process, remains approximately 80 percent white.
Why does State not release these numbers itself? The reason is likely to avoid legal action, as State continues to factor race into its decisions long after the Supreme Court struck down its use in academic admissions.
In Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina the Court sharply limited the use of race in admissions, particularly where it shapes outcomes or substitutes for race-neutral alternatives. The Court has simply realigned itself and college admissions with American thought; a survey found 73 percent of Americans said colleges and universities should not consider race when making decisions about student admissions. The logic of Students for Fair Admissions raises unresolved questions about whether explicitly diversity-targeted federal hiring pipelines can survive similar scrutiny.
America has changed since the Obama-Biden years. The question is no longer whether these programs increase diversity. It is whether a government hiring pipeline explicitly designed to shape demographic outcomes by replacing “bad” discrimination with “good” discrimination can be justified under current law, and whether it should be.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1Worrying about DEI when Rubio and the rest of the Trump idiots in State are planning to destroy the world’s economy?
04/7/26 2:29 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
2Meanwhile, back to the war, which is going really great when you listen to Baghdad Bob HeadUpHisAss. The real war is the uncivil war about to erupt between VD and little Marco. VD will make Little Marco the war villain, as VD swears he really is the Loveseat guy. Put your money on VD, who has the Peter Thiel antichrist superspy tools to drop some serious dirt on Little Marco’s political grave.
As for Demented, he has little movement left in his Strait-jacket. Iran has him by his little balls. MAGA didn’t like his Israel First lies. The military don’t appreciate his Suckers and Losers quips. If Demented tries to blame the generals for his idiotic war failures, expect the Dems to call some witnesses at Demented’s impeachment.
04/8/26 10:48 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3Demented: Iran away from Nuttyyahoo …too late
In 2028, Demented will complete his descent into the Hitler-bunker under the White House by blaming the Jews for losing the war. Yes, the Israel lobby in the White House burned the Repug chances in November by fooling the old fool that killing Iran would be a cakewalk like Venezuela. The US intelligence community’s verdict that Mossad predictions of regime change and revolution in Iran were “farcical” turned out to be correct. The Mossad assessment that the war would last at best a handful of days, at worst a handful of weeks, was woefully wide of the mark.
Now Nuttyyahoo is pushing the demented old fool not to agree to a ceasefire. The next day Demented issued his genocidal warnings to Tehran but then backed off when MAGA revolted.
The fallout in terms of public opinion and diplomacy is likely to be even more serious for Israel. In America, in particular, a political consensus dating back to the 1960s is visibly crumbling. Israel’s role in pushing Trump to war in Iran has been assailed by both progressives and the far right, while support for Israel more broadly is at historic lows even among Jewish voters.
A purge is coming, more heads cut than Noem and Bondi. Adelson, Singer and all the others who paid Demented to fight Israel’s war are going out. Demented now knows he was fooled by Nuttyyahoo. There is no fool more pathetic than an old fool.
04/8/26 1:27 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4Demented really means it THIS time
“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with. If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shootin’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE. In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.”
Submitted for idiots’s The Hague International War Crimes trial.
04/9/26 8:37 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5Demented’s Pretzel Iran War Logic Tied in Nots
Nots to Nukes: Demented has ruled out Nukes. Can you spell “war crimes”, Demented?
Nots to Ground War: Demented has ruled out boots on the ground, knowing MAGA will desert him. Not gonna happen.
Nots to doing nuthin: Time is against the lunatic as the midterms will be a disaster if straits are still closed.
Nots to Nuttyyahoo: Nuttyyahoo will continue to screw VD’s chances of making a peace deal by bombing Lebanon.
Nots to Nuts: Firing off nutty tweets is not working. Demented’s chaos strategy is backfiring in his fat face.
Allies have Nots: Demented’s war plans are twisting Japan and other allies, which are running out of oil.
The definition of pretzel means little arms. Little dick- hater Demented is running out of arms. The Pentagon fears the Iran War is depleting its global defense position.
Here’s the only thing the fat fuck can do: eat it.
04/9/26 9:54 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6You know you are a psychopath when…
It used to be 5% of the population exhibited some psychopathic trait. While it is common knowledge Donnie Dementia is a raving psycho, the silence of the MAGA base in response to the lunatic ravings of his desire to destroy the Iranian civilization would seem to indicate that 5% is a gross underestimate. What’s changed?
Most films today have some scenes of murder or violence. Is there some subliminal programming in our social media by the CIA and MIC designed to create a population of sadists to keep the gravy. train moving? Is there a virtual Roman Colosseum on your IPhone?
When the war on Iran is over, who will be the next to entertain US in the Colosseum?
04/9/26 7:38 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7MAGA DID THIS
After the Demented in Chief let it be known he was a total psycho willing to destroy the Iranian civilization for Israel, it was predictable the MAGGOTS like AmCon would start backing away they ever knew the guy. Blame the Jews. Typical.
Cue the articles: “The best hope that it might stick comes from Israel, where TV presenters who spent Monday salivating over a clock counting down the minutes and hours until Trump’s planned genocide of Iranians were left confused and outraged when the president backed down shortly before the deadline. If Trump ultimately goes as far as the Israelis would like him to, Americans must now reckon with the destruction already carried out in our name, the civilization-destroying actions Trump has threatened, and the barbarians we have become in the process.”
Who do you mean “we”, MAGGOTS? You did this.
04/10/26 8:34 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8Vance losing Game of Drones
Unless you have been listening to Hot Lips Lyin Leavitt, the Trump War is a total clusterfuck. A DNI intelligence report escaped Tulsi Gabbard’s grasp that showed Iran has thousands of drones and missiles ready to destroy every oil kingdom. In short, the Orange Clown is in a Strait-jacket of his own making. Sending poor antiwar VD to dance his way out of Trump’s Epic Fiasco has as much chance of success as Ned Stark in Game of Thrones. Trump pathetically pleaded for help from the North-NATO, but they are too busy fighting the Russian White walkers.
You know how this ends. The Chinese Dragons are in command now. They can burn Trump anytime they want.
04/11/26 9:42 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
9Trump’s PUSSY Bullshit lets China Shop MANPADS
US intelligence indicates that China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems MANPADS to Iran within the next few weeks, according to three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments.
It would be a provocative move considering Beijing said it helped broker the fragile ceasefire agreement that paused the war between Iran and the US earlier this week. President Donald Trump is also set to visit China early next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. YEAH, SURE.
The intelligence also underscores how Iran may be using the ceasefire as an opportunity to replenish certain weapons systems with the help of key foreign partners.
Two of the sources told CNN there are indications that Beijing is working to route the shipments through third countries to mask their true origin.
So Trumpie maybe wants to destroy the entire Chinese civilization too?
04/11/26 10:56 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
10Why do Fascists always blame the Jew?
Notice how the precious bodily fluid crowd always have the Jews to blame for their plight. Donnie Dumbass gets fooled by the Jew. Jared Kushner blew the Iran negotiation. Now this: Mark Levin Seems Upset We Haven’t Nuked Iran.
You MAGA clowns voted for the biggest clown on the planet, and somehow it’s the Jew who is to blame?
FACE IT, YOU NEVER HAD THE REICH STUFF.
04/11/26 12:25 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
11The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index — a measure of how confident Americans are in the economy — just hit a record low, in data stretching back to 1952.
FYI: in 1952, The Republican ticket of general Dwight D. Eisenhower and senator Richard Nixon defeated the Democratic ticket of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II and senator John Sparkman in a landslide victory, becoming the first Republican president in 20 years. This was the first election since 1928 without an incumbent president on the ballot.
04/11/26 12:58 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
12VD Dance Secret Conditions to end Iran War
1. Drumpf resigns, Vance replaces Drumpf
2. US hands HeadUpHis Ass over to Iran for war crimes
3. Saudis send Salman into exile
4. Nuttyyahoo stays as he is the biggest threat to Israel.
04/12/26 8:59 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
13Failure to plan is planning to fail
Drumpf flailing because he is failing. Drumpf says he had no idea Iran would close the Straits if attacked. Drumpf says the navy will stop every tanker that paid the Iran toll. And how will dumbass do that? Set them on fire?
04/12/26 10:53 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
14Hungarian friend of Drumpf just got dumped. His perfect record remains in tact, as Everything Drumpf touches goes to shite.
04/12/26 4:08 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
15Bad things come in threes; Drumpf better take cover
1. Orban crushed by Hungary voters
2. JD Iran out of time
The third could be Melania’s Easter bunny resurrected the Epstein scandal. But If Drumpf was smart, he should stay at Maralongo. Helos can go down anywhere.
04/12/26 5:52 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
16VD, Grim Reaper
Vance was one of Pope Francis’ last visitors on Easter …
The Grim Reaper met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, just one day before the Pope’s death on April 21, 2025, describing the meeting as a “great honor”. Hmmm.
Vance visited Victor Orban just before the Hungarian ghoulass got crushed in the election.
Can someone please fund Vance to visit Putin?
04/12/26 6:03 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
17Trump Enemy of State
You have to feel sorry for all those experienced diplomats in Main State with nuthin to do. How many times can you hit the salad bar at the State cafeteria before you become a vegetable? Giving Kushner and some real estate agent the duty to deal with Iranians who have nuthin to lose is gonna end like the showdown with the Mob and NSA in Enemy of State. In this case the Iranians have time on their side. November is when the GOP House gets burned. Poor Trumpy getting the flop sweats about now. Bet his inheritance and the GOP’s. Meanwhile the Iranians just wait watching him go bust.
Smart move, Mr. Prezidunce trying to block all oil in the Straits. Let the Navy start shooting and EVERYBODY IS GONNA GET SHOT IN THE REGION.
04/12/26 10:48 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
18The Madness of the Clown Who Would Be King
Pity Demented has to constantly utter a tweet more vulgar than the last. Attacking the Pope now? What you got next, Demented? Dressing up as Jesus even scaring the anti Christian crowd. Does the White House new ballroom have a rubber room in the basement?
Face facts, MAGA getting tired of his ravings. People are Hungary for more than some fascist blame-shifting. Gas is gonna stay above $4 until the midterms. Demented shifts his attention to his ballroom while the Repug House burns to the ground.
VD is ready to stab Demented in the back for sending him on a fools errand to deal with Iran. The clown who would be king has to look for an exit before the townies demand their money back.
04/13/26 7:57 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
19MAGA WANTS TO SHARE THE BLAME
MAGA are in the endgame. The fascists who rejoiced at the reelection of the sex pervert/pathological liar/insurrectionist etc etc are now condemning the whole country for its failure to stop the demented one for destroying their 401ks. Woe is US. The whole world thinks we are barbarians. We are shite. We?
Yo MAGA, the whole world has access to the internet. They understand the ilk that is responsible for this shite. They see the polls. MAGA was only too happy to revel in the pig slop of Demented. Now they are desperate to remove the stench as their pig leads them to slaughter.
The internet never forgets.
04/13/26 9:59 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
20Are they all pathological liars like Demented?
The ridiculous story Demented told about the rescue of a colonel shot down in Iran to cover the Navy Seal failed attempt to obtain Iran’s stockpile of nuke boom boom stuff is telling: they are all liars. Not just the lies Dumb and Dumber told the Iranians to stall for time, this whole Epic Fiasco is based on the Big Beautiful Lie. So it is obvious to conclude ala George Costanza everything these liars say must be the opposite. For example, Consider the latest thing Demented said he is Jesus. Lie. The Big D must then be the devil incarnate.
When The Big D vomits another TS (haha read: Lie) like The Exorcist Girl, just play it in back in reverse. Of course, The Big D will tell you Ala George Costanza, it’s not a lie if you believe it. 77,000,000 will tell you that is the truth.
04/13/26 10:58 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
21TACO CHICKENS OUT ON CHINA
China just told Demented to literally fuck off trying to stop its tankers in the Straits. The rest of the countries will follow China. MAGA authoritarians elected Demented as the strong man to solve all their personal failures in life. Well, you got a big pussy instead. And China and the rest will grab him. When you are stronger than the pussy, they let you do it.
04/14/26 8:45 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
22Rogue Nation
Good evening, Mr. Drumpf. The nuke boom boom stuff you sent the Navy Seals to extract in Iran were confirmed to be moved somewhere else. In five years Iran will have the nuke capable of devastating Maralongo. The Strait blockade you are desperate to show your few MAGGOTS left that you are not a pussy has been shown to be another straight failure. China says it will blast your navy to the bottom of the Straits if it attacks its tankers.
JD Vance political career is over less than 24 hours after he landed in Pakistan. If you are trusting Little Marco, you know the Cuban who called you Stupid Hitler, to keep the MAGA flag waving, good luck with that.
The military knows you are toast come November. They are ignoring your orders. You are now just some weak pussy not fit to lead it or MAGA after you identified yourself as low level political freak who thinks he is God.
You said Marge Greene was a traitor to your cause. What would that be? You are a NATO separatist, with neither the access nor the ability to acquire the weapons to fight Iran alone. This would support Iran’s suspicion that your time is running out.
Yes, you can still commit to inciting terrorism, killing more little girls and enabling acts to destroy economies in nations friendly to Western interests. You suspect this to be the same shadow organization you have been tracking for the last year also known as Antifa. You would be right. Normally, you and your team of PATEL idiots would be tasked with infiltrating and disrupting this terrorist network, but we have taken steps to ensure that this will not happen. Because we are ANTIFA , Mr. DRUMPF, and now we know what you are. MAGA knows a pussy when it sees one.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to face your fate. Resign after November. Commit more war crimes, you’ll be impeached. Resist us, you’ll be sent to The Hague to stand trial. And your precious Secretary Rubio WILL disavow any knowledge of your actions.
Good luck, Mr. Drumpf. Your administration will self-destruct.
04/14/26 11:28 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
23THE BLAME GAME
You have to feel sorry for the Drumpf fanatics like Peter who are looking for someone to blame for the Israel First Epic Fiasco other than the idiot running the circus. The Drumpf fanatics are blaming “the Media.” “Blame the media” is the 2026 version of blaming the Rothchilds in 1930. Be careful, Peter. The Amerika First MAGA FASCISTS are looking to blame the Jews. Both views are wrong. The Drump fanatics should not look to blame others but in themselves.
Over the last two weeks, The Drumpf has tested the loyalty of MAGA’s Christian base with a series of extraordinary provocations.
It began on Easter, when Trump threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges in a profanity-laced Truth Social post, and signed off with “Praise be to Allah.”
Two days later, he warned Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight” — appalling some of his closest former allies, including Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones and Candace Owens.
On Sunday night, Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV — the first American-born pope — as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” furious that Leo had condemned his threats against the people of Iran. Within the hour, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure — healing a bedridden man, flanked by bald eagles and the American flag.
The image drew rare condemnation from MAGA loyalists, including allegations of blasphemy and even demonic possession.
Trump’s attacks on the pope — who is far more popular than he is — will be the final nail on his cross.
04/15/26 8:29 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
24The War on the Homefront
When Demented attacked Iran many suspected it was just another distraction from the TrumpEpstein Files. But they would be wrong. It’s the economy, stupid.
When the Dems were in power during the 48 months between December 2020 and December 2024, the true private sector jobs count rose by+229,000 per month. Yet during Demented’s first 15 months the second time around the barn, the true private sector jobs count has contracted by -21,000 per month.
Employment levels in the true private sector have been shrinking for more than a year – all of the MAGA chest-beating to the contrary notwithstanding. Yet the real shellacking from the economic whirlwind spreading outward from the Persian Gulf – now intensified by the blockade of the blockade – is still months from making landfall in the government’s inherently lagging monthly economic numbers.
The war on Iran is another war on the homefront, just another reminder the whole MAGA spiel about Demented’s Amerika First is just bull shit.
04/15/26 8:57 AM | Comment Link